Does the American system bear any resemblances to Rome during its imperial period? Paul Krugman, who has cheered virtually every step toward empire (we're not talking foreign policy here; we mean empire as in a system dominated by a single man or a single centralized government), has the gall to be concerned all of a sudden. This is episode 66 of my sister podcast, Contra Krugman.

Documentary filmmaker Cassie Jaye began her project on the men's rights movement as an unsympathetic, almost uncomprehending observer. After letting representatives of that movement tell their story, she had the honesty to admit there was merit in their position.

Shari Spivack, president of the Second Amendment Women Shooting Club, discusses gun rights from the point of view of someone who trains people in firearms usage rather than engages in political activism. Some people should probably stuff envelopes, I guess, but without people like Shari, what have we got?

Michael Rectenwald, a professor of liberal studies at New York University who describes himself as a lifelong left-liberal, took to Twitter not long ago to express his disgust with political correctness, safe spaces, and SJW intimidation. You can imagine the response from those tolerant lovers of diversity. But he had the last laugh.

Is libertarianism all about the Nonaggression Principle, or are there supplementary ideas a libertarian must also hold because they uphold the free society? I used to criticize left-libertarians who believed true libertarians had to be feminists, egalitarians, etc. But now I wonder: although someone is indeed a libertarian if he believes in the NAP, might there indeed be other important ingredients in the free society? Entrepreneur and blogger C. Jay Engel joins me to discuss.

For a long time, nobody wanted to discuss the Depression of 1920-21, since it reversed itself without fiscal or monetary stimulus. But after a few other scholars and I started making hay with this example, Keynesian critics crawled out of the woodwork. My guest today responds, and vindicates our view.

G.P. Manish discusses what the Austrian School of economics can contribute to the debate over what the developing world should do to become wealthy. We also discuss India's recent demonetization of its 500 and 1000-rupee notes.

On a previous episode I spoke to Jordan Peterson, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, about what he endured after refusing to use strange new pronouns to accommodate new "gender identities." So I thought: why not discuss the guy's actual work, rather than just his travails? In today's episode we talk about "self-authoring," a program of personal improvement and self-knowledge that has had staggeringly good results.

The perverse outcomes of Venezuelan socialism have had an interesting and perhaps unexpected side effect: they've given a shot in the arm to Bitcoin, the nonstate currency and payment system. Jim Epstein tells us the surprising story.

Actor and presidential speechwriter Ben Stein thinks secession talk is "silly," and then proceeds to repeat the usual non-arguments against it. I'm by myself in this episode, responding to what Ben had to say.

Cody Wilson created intense controversy in 2013 when his company published plans online for the Liberator, a functioning pistol that could be produced with a 3D printer. By popular demand, he joins me to talk about his experiences and his outlook.

We keep reading of horror stories involving parents being harassed and punished by the state for reasons that seem ridiculous to normal people. My guest today, who heads the National Association of Parents, is fighting back.

The left's goals and strategies have changed over the years. Nikos Sotirakopoulos helps us make sense of all these terms -- New Left, Old Left, etc. -- and discusses the shift in emphasis from economics to culture.

Jason Stapleton and I review a recent article of mine on how easy -- or difficult -- it will be to use the election of Donald Trump as an opportunity to persuade leftists that they should favor smaller government.

The great Eric Peters, who runs EricPetersAutos.com, joins me to discuss the perverse results of automobile regulation, how a Trump administration might affect the car market in the US, and standouts for the 2017 model year.

Are your progressive friends correct to say the US Constitution is not a limited government document after all? Bill Watkins joins me to discuss both the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation, and what the light of history can tell us about each.

Ever since the election of Donald Trump, the electoral college has been in the left's crosshairs. Why, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote! She should be the winner! Kevin Gutzman, Brion McClanahan, and I discuss what's so dreadfully wrong with this conventional way of thinking.

Connor Boyack, creator of the Tuttle Twins children's books series, has just today released the latest title in the series, based on F.A. Hayek's classic book The Road to Serfdom. We discuss themes from that book -- themes most adults could stand to hear, and that Connor is helping convey to children.

The conventional wisdom holds that mortgage-backed securities, credit-default swaps, and the like were responsible for the fragility, uncertainty, and ultimate collapse of 2008. Is that true? Professor Ed Stringham offers a revisionist account.

Professor Anthony Esolen, author of many books and acclaimed translator of Dante's Divine Comedy, unexpectedly ran afoul of the campus thought police in recent weeks. He suggested in print that the kind of superficial, bean-counting "diversity" with which academia is so obsessed threatens to undermine the universality and catholicity of a Catholic college like Providence.

Some of Trump's instincts are noninterventionist. Since there's a good chance he'll surround himself with interventionists anyway, here's what he ought to hear about various hotspots around the world, and why nonintervention is the way to go every time.

Joshua Fields Millburn, half of the duo known as The Minimalists and himself a libertarian, discusses how the pursuit of consumption may add to rather than fill a spiritual void, and how withdrawing from the consumption frenzy can be liberating.

Wikileaks has released so many emails to the public that it can be hard to get a handle on it all. Tracy Diaz, an old hand in the liberty movement who's been following Wikileaks closely, joins me to discuss the bombshells in those emails.

The University of Toronto's Jordan Peterson became notorious practically overnight for refusing to buckle under pressure to use "gender-neutral" pronouns with people of different "gender identities." Professor Peterson argues that claims of the existence dozens of gender identities have no scientific basis, and should certainly not be used to intimidate dissidents.

Doug Casey, author of the best-selling investment book of all time (Crisis Investing), returns to discuss his defense of a non-p.c. occupation: speculator. We also discuss how young people can get an advantage in the world today, where the great opportunities are, and more.

The situation in Syria is dangerous and volatile, with the potential for an American conflict with Russia very real. Scott Horton helps us evaluate what the two major candidates have had to say about this critically important subject.

Romans 13 has generated an overwhelming amount of discussion and debate regarding Christian belief and political obligation. Pastor Larry Beane joins me to get to the bottom of what it really means. While we're at it, we discuss Christian libertarians, p.c. Christians, and political correctness in society at large.

People have been asking: can you do an episode on how to podcast? Or how to self-publish a book? And so on. Even if you're not interested in starting a podcast, I think you'll enjoy this behind-the-scenes episode, which also introduces my new free eBook, 5 Paths to an Online Income.

This year my mother learned how to earn dough by promoting products as an affiliate. She created a great affiliate site and began to rank very highly on Google for various keywords. How did she do it? By following the guidance of Andrew Hansen, the Internet marketing expert who joins me today, and his business partner Sara Young, whom I featured on the show earlier this year. She now knows more than I do.

So I decided Andrew would make a good guest for a bonus episode of the show. He's young, very successful, and extremely knowledgeable -- not to mention a good guy and friend.

The US government all but shut down Internet poker several years ago, leading one of my friends to move out of the US so he could continue playing. Adam Haman, a player with 25 years of experience, joins us to discuss the war on gambling as well as offer a few gaming tips.

Here's an interview I did on the Kennedy Financial podcast, covering all kinds of topics: 19th-century bank panics, what kind of gold and silver coins you should have, how to work online without a boss, and much more.

Capitalism is all about buying and selling, and if you want to sell online, you have to know how to use email the right way. If you master email marketing, you’ll have a huge advantage over your competitors – most of whom, frankly, will be doing it all wrong. In this episode, Daniel Levis joins me to explain the right – and wrong – way to prosper through email.

In the 1990s, Murray Rothbard thought an opportune moment had arisen to reach out again to the American right wing. With the Cold War over, a number of interesting and impressive conservative thinkers were concluding that it was time to stop the global interventionism and return to being a normal country again. This meeting of the minds, between paleoconservatives (so named to distinguish themselves from neoconservatives) and paleolibertarians bore considerable fruit. Jason Jewell walks through this important history.

Senator Bernie Sanders attracted plenty of attention this election cycle, but while his complaints weren’t always without merit, his proposed solutions would only have added fuel to the fire. Hunter Lewis, author of the new bookWhere Bernie Went Wrong, joins me to take a closer look at Bernie and his ideas.

When I recently (episode 745) spoke to Professor Jeffrey Herbener about the economic effects of fractional-reserve banking, I recalled that John Tamny and I had had a disagreement on the subject. So for this episode I’ve invited both of these gentlemen for a formal debate on the subject. I think you’ll find the result enlightening.

Conservatives and many libertarians look back fondly on British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, whom they remember for taking on trade unions and the left, and advocating free-market economic policy. Is this an accurate picture of the former British leader? Sean Gabb joins me for an unconditional look at Margaret Thatcher.

I get asked a lot about places where libertarians might move were things to go really sour in the United States. I myself plan to stick it out come what may, but it’s a good question all the same. One place sometimes cited in this respect is Singapore. Ivo Zlamal, aSupporting Listenerof the show who has lived in Singapore for four and a half years, shares his impressions of that small country.

Rosa Brooks, an expert on international law and national security law, discusses how the War on Terror has confused and conflated war and peace, thereby blurring legal principles and categories developed over the course of Western civilization.

Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton can or will explain precisely what the Fed has done to the economy since the turn of the century, but it's crucial that we understand it. Meanwhile, although we hear nothing but warnings and gloom about employment in the age of automation, the true picture turns out to be much brighter. This are my remarks at the Mises Institute's event at Harvard on October 1, 2016.

Gret Glyer, a graduate of Grove City College who lives in Malawi, just launched an app that will knock your socks off: help fund worthy projects of all sizes all over the world, and get receive immediate notification and visual evidence of your impact when the project is complete.

James Newcomb, another conscientious objector I've gotten to know in the private Facebook group for the show's Supporting Listeners, discusses his post-military entrepreneurial vision, and how to embark on a new life.

Here's a common refrain: the rich are parasites who in fact don't create jobs at all. Plenty of them just shelter their income somewhere. The real job creators are the working classes, who go out and spend their money. This is what stimulates economic activity. What is the correct response to this line of argument?

Did Trump land a knockout blow in last night's debate? For those of us wanting to see Clinton smashed on live TV, the answer -- according to Lew Rockwell and me -- is unfortunately not. Here's our analysis, punchy as always, of what went down.

Fractional-reserve banking, in which only a fraction of demand deposits are available on demand (the rest being lent out), has been a source of controversy even among self-identified Austrian economists. Jeff Herbener joins us to discuss the purely economic effects of fractional-reserve banking.

Today we look at the thought of G.A. Cohen, a Marxist who actually tried to deal with libertarian ideas without caricaturing them. His ideas can help us sharpen our arguments, and can show us where egalitarianism leads. The bulk of this episode is drawn from my 90-lesson government course I created for the Ron Paul Curriculum.

Harvard's Steven Pinker has argued that violence has been drastically reduced over the course of human history, thanks in large part to the rise of the state. Is this checkmate for libertarians? Stefan Blankertz says no.

David Stockman, himself of the Reagan Administration, recounts the horrific economic policies of recent administrations, describes their consequences, and proposes solutions. Hint: they include abolishing the Federal Open Market Committee, which the Fed uses to make monetary policy.

To this day, plenty of people believe that the Western intervention in Serbia over Kosovo prevented a genocide. That one's a whopper even by Pentagon standards. Jim Jatras joins me to get to the bottom of what really happened.

With such libertarian luminaries as Murray Rothbard and Walter Block at odds with regard to the creation of Israel and its conformity or otherwise to libertarian principles, it seemed sensible to host a debate on the subject. The resolution: "Israel was founded on the basis of legitimate homesteading of land and reclamation of lost Jewish property from previous generations of Jews."

Arguing in the affirmative is Rafi Farber, and in the negative is Jeremy R. Hammond.

The America First Committee, which opposed U.S. entry into World War II, is universally despised today. Bill Kauffman and I use the AFC as a springboard to discuss nonintervention in general and a whole lot more.

Even though the various levels of government in the U.S. hold a monopoly on law enforcement (remember how this was supposed to keep us safe, etc.?) phone scammers are alive and well. What a surprise. Here's one way the private sector is really keeping people safe. Plus, a few fun tangents in this episode.

Whether it's Gloria Steinem on anorexia nervosa, Mitch Snyder on homelessness, campus activists on rape, environmentalists on DDT, Ralph Nader on traffic safety, and pretty much all progressives on child labor, discrimination, and the minimum wage, the record isn't so good.

In this episode I share some thoughts about egalitarianism and the family (mortal enemies, those), and whether parents can be said, within the libertarian framework, to have positive obligations toward their children.

So-called private prisons came under fire recently, so we were treated to the usual anti-capitalist propaganda. But just how "private" are these "private prisons"? Plus: are millennials really anti-capitalist, or are they (I'll be kind) just clueless?

Todd Seavey, author of Libertarianism for Beginners, joins me for a discussion that beginners and advanced students alike will enjoy. We go from the foundations, to real-world applications, to problems for libertarianism, to left and right and libertarians. Much to learn from and enjoy.

It's Labor Day, which means we're hearing all about how the labor movement have made our country and the world a better place. One bumper sticker reads, "The Weekend: Brought to You By Labor Unions." That's just plain false, and I explain why.

With protectionism on the rise and opponents of trade insisting that international competition is at the root of Middle America's problems, the libertarian response -- to my mind, at least -- has been tepid and unpersuasive. Gene Epstein joins me to fix that.

Scott McConnell was once editorial page editor of the New York Post, and worked and published in neoconservative circles. Then something changed, and he helped found The American Conservative, an anti-neocon magazine. Lots covered here, including foreign policy, Israel/Palestine, the alt-right, and more.

Good Morning America's Amy Robach came under overwhelming pressure after she used the term "colored people" on television, instead of the approved phrase "people of color," which is completely different because it contains a preposition. Michael Malice returns to the show to get to the bottom of what's really going on here, and how progressives use race and terminology as means of control.

Jeff Herbener joins me to respond to an article making the rounds these days claiming that Austrian criticisms of mainstream economics are either uninformed or simply fall flat. By the end of this episode, it's this critic who's flat.

Here's my recent appearance on the Johnny Rocket Launch Pad. What a blast (so to speak). They asked me lots of things I've never been asked before, about when my ethics have been challenged and what I've done about it, what I've changed my mind about, how I teach my kids without making them into clones, where I first discovered Austrian economics (the answer will surprise you), and how I get my message heard by conservatives and progressives. If you don't enjoy this episode, I owe you a Coke.

The ripple effects of government regulation throughout society go well beyond the famous "seen and unseen" formulation of Frederic Bastiat. Per Bylund helps us trace the full consequences of government regulation and its effects on people's lives.